


Stoplight

by acryology



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-01
Updated: 2017-01-01
Packaged: 2018-09-14 01:27:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9150736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/acryology/pseuds/acryology
Summary: When Coran and Allura learn about the game of "Red Light, Green Light" from the paladins, they all decide to play a few rounds as a "training exercise".





	

**Author's Note:**

> **For All Readers** :  
> this fic is set a bit after the events of "some assembly required" and before the beginning of "return of the gladiator"! it's through hunk's perspective as he's narrating the game. 
> 
> the gender reveal with pidge isn't seen until the end of the episode, which is why here, he/him pronouns are used for her. there's only a few instances in the fic where these pronouns are used for pidge, but i still wanted to explain and warn the reader before coming in! thank you for understanding.

Hunk was absolutely well-aware that being a Voltron paladin required a lot out of a person. With the universe on your shoulders and several enemies watching your every move and won't hesitate to attack, you had to be prepared for the what can be said as the absolute worst.

According to Coran, a paladin had to be strong, determined, agile- they had to be in shape physically and mentally to take on the challenges they'd face. 

Training was of utmost importance for anyone under such a role. Princess Allura had made it a top priority for the newest Paladins every morning as soon as they'd met- for better or for worse, Hunk may add- hoping to ensure they were ready for what was ahead of them.

However, none of them were able to prepare for what had come about them in training today. And when Hunk meant "none of them", he really meant it.

Several times throughout this particular training session, the paladins were left frozen in position, unable to move, to speak, or to even look around them. They were left to focus on their individual balance, coordination, and stamina.

Not only were the actual paladins affected, but Allura had too, stuck reaching out her left hand in front of her awkwardly, reaching for nothing but the air in front of her.

Only a shout of a few certain words, a color of sorts, allowed them to move, to run freely again towards their collective goal yards in front of them.

As easy as that phrase made them freeze, another let them move again, leading to all of them rushing forward as fast as possible. 

And as easy as _that phrase_ let them move again, the same phrase before that made them stuck in position not even a minute later.

If it wasn't obvious, the intense atmosphere in the training deck this morning wasn't caused by fighting the Gladiator, navigating through the invisible maze, or being attacked by drones. 

It was caused by an innocent game of "Red Light, Green Light" that became _way_ more competitive than they'd thought.

Hunk doesn't exactly remember how this even happened in the first place- well, he _did_ , actually, but at the moment, he felt it was kind of hard to recall something while you're standing in an awkward mid-running position.

What he did remember was Lance being the one who started talking about it to the rest of the paladins after going through the maze about an hour ago, during a well-needed water break- or at least, what Hunk thought was water.

The break was full of reminiscing playing the childhood game, recalling their personal stories with it, which called attention to Coran, who'd asked about it after hearing them within earshot.

A quick explanation from Hunk and Lance led to them being more intrigued with the game than the others thought, with Coran comparing it to an old Altean childhood game of his that was indeed similar, but somehow very deadly. Allura hadn't even blinked at the comparison, while the others looked at Coran a bit confused... and worried.

Allura then proposed to try out the game as a training activity of sorts. It seemed outlandish at first, but considering that they'd only been able to freely form Voltron after a green goo food fight, they all realized this could actually help them, _somehow_.

The rules of the game were the same, sans "the winner takes over the 'stoplight' role" and that they'd added a point system to the game that's usually never there. Coran was told to call the shots with the "lights" until a player had earned five points.

The score board so far had Pidge and Lance neck and neck with four points each, Hunk and Allura not far behind with two times won, and Keith with only one win. 

Shiro was the only paladin with no wins at all, and the times he _did_ come close to the finish line, gravity wasn't exactly the nicest to him.

At the moment, Hunk was right behind Pidge and Lance in their last game- they were extremely close to Coran now, and they were all holding their breath, hoping they wouldn't screw up now.

Shiro, Keith, and Allura somehow fell or moved, and were sent back too late in the game to even try reaching the end at this point.

With one last loud "green light" from Coran, Lance and Pidge rushed past Coran and reached the goal together, ending the game. Everyone else watched Coran intently, waiting for him to call out the winner.

It took a few seconds of thinking, but Coran soon cleared his throat and turned proudly behind him to announce the results. "And our winner is..." 

"Pidge!" Coran held out his index finger and thumb and made them almost touch. "He won by just _thiiiiiiiis_ much." 

Lance looked at Coran in disbelief. "Oh, come on! It was definitely a tie."

"'A tie'? I was a foot ahead of you." Pidge kicked up a leg, showing off a left foot to Lance to emphasize the point. "And I mean _literally_ , a whole foot ahead of you."

"What? No way."

Hunk walked up to them from behind and joined in their conversation after getting a towel to wipe his face. "Pidge's right, dude. I was, like, right behind you two. Pidge won."

Keith came in while holding a few juice pouches and straws he'd grabbed from across the room. "Yeah, Pidge definitely was first."

"Alright, alright, I got it. Pidge won fair and square." Lance accepted the loss, but turned to Keith with a teasing look. "At least I beat _you_ , though."

"Hey, hey, I'm gonna have to give you credit for this. I was never really good at this game." Keith grabbed a pouch and a straw for Lance and handed it to him, receiving a cheery 'Thanks, man!' in return. "You guys want one too?"

Hunk and Pidge nodded and soon, all four were sitting on the floor, drinking from their pouches, and laughing together.

They were all deeply immersed in what they were talking about, but Hunk happened to look up and in front of him for a second to see Coran, Allura, and Shiro looking at them with warm smiles. He smiled back fondly, then looked back at his fellow paladins around him.

The past few days weren't exactly the easiest to deal with- there was _a lot_ to properly reflect over and comprehend. Just nearly a week ago, Hunk was in the simulator with Lance and Pidge, struggling to work together. Now, they're learning how to navigate and fly in this giant robot lion weapon in space, in galaxies they'd never thought _existed_.

To be blunt, Hunk was nothing but scared about all this, and he would imagine everyone else would be just as freaked out as he was. Everyone here seemed to have their own personal struggles to deal with, and it just amplified upon this whole new _Voltron_ thing.

Despite that, ever since the food goo fight, they'd all been opening up more. Everyone was better getting along and having a good time with each other in passing moments throughout the day. After training, he could find himself talking with Shiro and Pidge about whether that spray was spelled "Febreze" or "Febreeze". 

During dinner, he'd talk to Lance and Keith about teachers at the Garrison they had and catching Keith up with what they knew up until now- along with some Commander Iverson smack-talking from all three of them.

He didn't expect for Shiro, Coran, and Allura to ask for engineering insight, but one morning after breakfast, Coran asked him over to look at something, and one thing led to another.

Minus Lance, he didn't really know much about anyone else, but now, he felt closer to everyone than he had before. It made dealing with all of this totally easier- not _easy_ , but way _easier_.

"Hey, Hunk, buddy? Hello...?" Hunk snapped out of his thoughts to see Lance's hand waving in front of him to catch his attention. "Arus to Hunk?"

"Oh, huh, what? Yeah?"

"Who do you think would be best at hide and seek, me, Keith, or Pidge?"

"It'd obviously be me, duh." Pidge finished drinking from his juice pouch, and put it beside him. "I kind of have an advantage here with me being shorter than everyone else here."

"Oh, please!" Lance turned towards the yellow paladin with a confident look and punched his shoulder lightly. "Hunk can testify for me with us hiding in trash cans at the Garrison! Right, dude?"

"Well, uh-"

As Hunk was about to answer and explain, Shiro walked up in front of the circle and looked upon everyone, smiling. "Okay, guys, break's over. I think it's about time we start training with Voltron today, don't you think?"

"Absolutely." Allura came behind Shiro and stood next to him, agreeing. "All of you have gotten better with piloting Voltron and I couldn't be prouder."

"You paladins are doing nothing but a fine job," Coran added in from across the room as he left with empty drink pouches in his hands.

Everyone in the circle said their thanks as they got up from the floor, stretched, and made their way to the exit. They continued their debate on who'd be best at "Hide and Seek" as they headed towards the entrances to the lion hangars. Hunk followed not far behind as he continued thinking to himself.

Getting used to piloting Yellow was still a bit of a challenge for Hunk- he wasn't one to admire being a pilot like, as say, Lance would. He's not denying he's still _really_ freaking anxious about everything.

However, with everyone by his side, getting through this _together_ , he felt more confident. It felt like, for once, his worries had faded into the background.

He sighed deeply and smiled to himself as he walked into the elevator and felt it lower himself below the castle.

Hunk was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> if you're a general reader, i hope you enjoyed this! i was disappointed by the lack of general team voltron-bonding fics in ao3 and decided to add to the collection we DO have. and what better way to do that then to write them playing the cute little game of "red light, green light", right? (haha, rhyming.)
> 
> if you're gnawing (gnawingonsteel @ tumblr), my lovely, talented giftee (i love, love, LOVE your hance and heith fanarts, by the way!)-  
> i'd like to apologize for being late a day or so with this. this past week ended up more hectic than thought and i wasn't able to post your gift until today! i noticed you were looking for some voltron family fluff and i hope this suffices! i poured a lot into it to make it more believable and as fluffy as possible. thank you for bearing with me and i'm so sorry for the inconvenience! i hope you enjoy it! happy holidays, and i hope your new years' was awesome!


End file.
